C’ttee recommends unbundling of NNPC, deregulation

By BEN AGANDE, AbujaThe Special Task Force on governance and control of the petroleum sector yesterday recommended that  the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be broken into several companies in order to ensure greater efficiency and transparency. In its stead, the committee which presented its report to President Goodluck Jonathan recommended the National Petroleum Inspectorate (NPI) to serve as the sole industry regulator, Petroleum Asset Management Company (PAMCO)  to manage the country’s interests in hydrocarbon exploration and the National Oil Company (NOC) which will function like the NNPC but with 49 percent private stakes . The committee also recommended that  the Nigeria Content and Capacity Development Agency and the National Frontier Exploration Unit be formed to promote the country’s active participation in its petroleum sector.